MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF PIRATES...

like many all things i said i would never do in motherhood,
i have swallowed my words and pride once again.
this time concerning skulls and crossbones.

oh how many times have i lamented the fact a normal cute shirt is ruined with a pirate emblem.
if the manufacturers must add something nautical why not an anchor? a crab? a whale? or anything else.

but yo, ho, ho, what do you know... the pirate world snuck into my heart one thirty-minute segment of jake and the neverland pirates at a time. ever since we first watched the show last fall our own kids have transformed into these characters often. each time we go to the park i load up adelaide and graham, but when we get there they only refer to each other as izzy and jake.

at christmas last year, graham's favorite gifts were jake's spyglass and headband, and bucky the pirate ship. he has played with them almost daily ever since. then the kids received a special package from abilene for valentine's day. it was complete with their own pixie dust, vests, and interactive treasure map that looked like our own backyard and they developed into these characters even more.

it came as no surprise when they told me what they wanted to be for halloween this year (and how wonderful that we had almost all their costumes already on hand). the surprise this year was simply that coordinating costumes worked out once again. every year i prepare myself for it to be the last matching year, but this halloween jake, izzy, and skully the parrot made quite a trio at october birthday parties, trunk-or-treat, trick-or-treating, and passing out candy on halloween night. and all the while i found myself thinking even skulls and crossbones look cute on these heads.

and now a walk down costume memory lane...

the chicken and the egg (2006)

lobster and chef (2007)

baby zebra (2008)

ade-lady-bug (2009)

the toy story gang: woody, jessie, mr. and mrs. potato head (2010)

little red riding hood and the big nice wolf (2011)

rapunzel and pascal, her chamelon (2012)

a pirate's life for them (2013)

click here for another halloween tradition at our house